Wednesday, 17 August 2011 10:07

It is estimated that around 2,150 practitioners still need to register before compulsory registration comes into force on 30 September 2011 at the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC).  

All day care of children services (eg nurseries and out of school care) have been notified so that staff at practitioner level (eg nursery nurses) complete their registration application on time.  It's important for parents and carers and employers to know what compulsory registration means for their workers and people who use their services. 

The quickest way to see if a practitioner is registered is to search the SSSC register at www.sssc.uk.com, ask the staff member if they are registered or ask to see their registration certificates.  Required registration means that the staff working within day care of children services are of good character, hold relevant qualifications and continue to develop the skills to work with our children and young people.

Some workers may be registered with other bodies like the General Teaching Council for Scotland but those that are not must register with the SSSC.  Applications must be received as soon as possible and those not registering with the SSSC must notify the SSSC of their circumstances.

Anna Fowlie, Chief Executive of the SSSC states:

"Many practitioners in day care of children services have registered already which shows their commitment to their profession and to raising standards of practice in the day care of children workforce. There is a small minority who have not and it is vital that they contact us as soon as possible.  Employers need to be sure that staff have their applications in now or are already registered and parents and carers can also help by asking the service if staff are registered as for those services employing workers who are not registered after 30 September 2011will be committing an offence."

For more information on registration and employers' responsibilities visit the SSSC registration section.

ENDS

Notes to the editor

If you require further information contact Cristina Dello Sterpaio, Communications Officer, 01382 346462.

The SSSC was set up in October 2001 under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001.

Its objectives are:

• to protect those who use services
• to raise standards of practice
• to strengthen and support the professionalism of the workforce.

The SSSC has five main tasks:

• to establish registers of key groups of social services staff
• to publish Codes of Practice for all social services staff and for employers
• to regulate the training and education of the workforce
• to promote education and training
• to undertake the functions of Skills for Care and Development, the sector skills council for the social care, children's' and young people's workforce and this includes workforce planning.

Each country in the UK has its own regulatory body for social services.

They are: the Care Council for Wales, the General Social Care Council (England), the Northern Ireland Social Care Council and the Scottish Social Services Council. The Councils are each responsible for the registration and regulation of social services workers in their country. They work in co-operation with other regulatory bodies such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Required registration dates for day care of children service workers

The SSSC opened the parts of the Register for managers of day care of children services in October 2006 and practitioners in March 2007.  The Regulation of Care (Fitness of Employees in Relation to Care Services) (Scotland) (No2) Regulations came into force on 30 April 2009 which means that it will now become a requirement for workers in the day care of children services to be registered.  The Scottish Government has already made registration a requirement for social workers, social work students, all residential child care workers and managers of care home services for adults and adult day care services.  This requirement will also be introduced for other workers in care home services for adults over the next few years.

When do I need to register?	Applications must be submitted to the SSSC	Date of required registration
Managers and lead practitioners	31 May 2010	30 November 2010
Practitioners	30 September 2010	30 September 2011
Support workers	31 December 2013	30 June 2014

For further information about the SSSC and required registration please visit our compulsory registration section.